Legacies
by MinaOfRen
Summary: They were happy on their little planet until the Republic found them. Suddenly, the life she knows is gone, her father must pay for his crimes against the galaxy and her mother is imprisoned for being a traitor. History repeats itself.


40 ABY

The first years of her life are the happiest ones, though she doesn't know it at the time. She lives on a small planet with her mother and father, there's a village not far from her home but they rarely venture there. No, they spend their days swimming in the many crystal-blue ponds or in the jungle, climbing and discovering new paths they might have missed on previous explorations. They pluck the fruit from the trees and eat it as they seat on the higher branches. The sun always shines bright above them, the rains are short and the green is abundant, something her mother loves.

They have a house like everyone else, though they sleep inside their ship more often than not -she can count with a hand the times it has flown, her parents don't like to bring attention upon themselves. Their house is dug deep on the rich-reddish dirt, much like the ones from the near village. She has a bed of her own, but she sleeps better between her parents. They are kind and Anni swears she can feel their love for her and each other in the air. What she doesn't feel, she sees instead. Her father carries her around and caters to her every whim (something she abuses and makes her mother sigh amusedly), he is there for every nightmare and sleepless night, her mother not far behind.

Her father is the tallest man she's ever seen (not that she has seen many) and he is also the strongest and the best (in her humble, unbiased opinion). He is also kind. Before the lights go off, he always places a kiss in her forehead and one in her mother's lips. Her mother never misses the chance to tell Anni she is loved by them, as if she didn't knew it already. She stays on her bed until she falls asleep and the nights are filled with tales of adventures and old battles. Anni has always been amazed by her mother's stories, they are so vivid that they might as well been real.

She sometimes feels a bit lonely, wishing she had a sibling or a playmate her age. Her parents make up for it by always being there. There isn't a dull moment with them, be it walking through the jungle or reading books during rainy days on their house in the earth. Anni, in the future, will come to cherish those memories as if they were made of gold.

She likes to go exploring by herself. Her mother is not fully at ease with this, her eyes follow her worriedly as she merges with the jungle. Anni reassures her, she is big for an eight-year old (not that she's met others to compare) and fast and strong. She can take care of herself. So when her parents are still sleeping, right after dawn, Anni slips off her bed and heads to the green. There's plenty of food back in the ship and their home, but she likes the excuse of going for breakfast early. It makes her feel mature and independent. The air of the morning is a kind, fresh breeze against her freckled face. She knows these lands as the back of her hand, where the juiciest fruits are and which plant are better to leave alone.

Every beast knows her name and she knows well their behavior. Their sound mingles together in a soothing tune. She is at the top of a tree with her fingers wrapped around the purple, splotchy fruit, when she's thrown off balance. A wave hits her and it's by sheer luck that she doesn't fall to the void. When she looks up to the sky there's a ship entering the atmosphere, not a moment later, two more follow it. Anni turns to where they are headed and realizes they are on the way to the clear where her house and the ship happen to be. Something twists in her gut and every nerve in her body screams that something's wrong .

She runs like she's never had before. Her bare feet step on sticks and sharp rocks but she barely notices, her heart beats wildly on her chest and the air leaves her lungs in sharp puffs. The sound of the jungle is being drowned by the one of the noise of the ships. They are landing. When she arrives to her home, her mother is leaving the hole, looking around wildly. She is looking for me , she realizes. Before she can scream for her mother, men leave the ships and point at her with blasters.

She only knows what a blaster is because her father had taken her alone to practice. Her aim is not half bad, but her blaster is under her bed, hidden from her mother and far from her reach. White light emerges from the saber her mother wields (one she has seen a handful of times and is always locked in a cupboard) and Anni stops in her tracks. She's left the tree-line two steps behind and now she can easily be spotted by either the men or her mother.

Who are them? She wonders anxiously. She's never seen them at the village, but she can recognize the symbol they carry as the one she's found in the pieces of metal that have long been covered by branches and vines. A man steps forward, unarmed and with his hands in the air, yelling at her mother. Her expression tenses but her stand does not falter, in fact, she stands straighter. She yells something of her own and the man's gaze darkens. He seems almost pained when the others shot. Anni screams.

Before the first bolt of light can reach her mother, it freezes on the air and her father appears. Anni almost runs back to the jungle. He doesn't look like himself. There's something dangerous in his eyes and red bleeds from his lightsaber. They hit and dodge the bolts that come at them. Men are lifted from the ground and thrown in the air like rag dolls. But they are endless, more and more keep coming down the ship. Her father strikes at the legs of those who come too close and when he turns, his eyes meet Anni's. They widen and she can see his lips forming her name. One of the bolts hits him on the back and he hisses.

Unfortunately, the unarmed man follows his gaze and Anni is discovered. Between the orders being screamed, the sound of blasters being charged and the sound of the lightsabers, she hears her father's voice, loud and clear. " Run! " The desperation clouds her as she turns on her heels and sprints back into the jungle. She runs without direction, wild and scared. Who were those men, why were they attacking her parents? The questions claw at her neck, but she refuses to be overwhelmed by them. She holds back the tears. Everything will be fine, her mother is brave and her father is strong. It doesn't matter that they are outnumbered.

She hears the heavy footsteps right behind her and a hand grabs the hem of her shirt. She loses her balance and lands on her face. She tries to rise and run once more, but the hand holds her down. She tries to kick him, thrashing against the soil. She screams loudly in frustration. The fear becomes to much and she can hear a voice in her head kill him, child. But she can't. She's smaller, tinier and infinitely weaker.

"Calm down, kid. We aren't going to hurt you." The man grunts as she squirms under his grip.

"Let me go !" She commands and the man staggers back for a second, but quickly recovers. One of his hands finds its way to her mouth.

"You have those tricks too, uh?" He asks. She doesn't answers back to him, only fights harder an already lost battle. He drags her back to the clear, where the fight has subdued. Anni searches for her family. Her mother is being held down by two soldiers, her arms behind her back as her wrists get cuffed together. A man holds her lightsaber by the end of it, as if it could explode at any time. Her father is on the dirt, his eyes closed. He is pulled away from them by other men. There are even more ships than there had previously been.

She meets her mother's eyes and they fill with tears. She tries to break the man's hold over her, all she wants is to be held by her.

"You never told us you had a daughter, Rey." This man knows her? Anni tries to remember if she's ever seen him, but his face doesn't come to mind. "I'm sorry it has come to this."

"It doesn't have to," her mother's voice is nervous, desperate. She stills her struggling against the men. "Let us go, we were in peace here. You won't see us ever again, Poe. Just let us go." He isn't moved by her words.

"And the rest of the galaxy? How can we have peace when the man you've aided is responsible for the death of billions ?"

"Starkiller was Hux's, you know this. He is already dead!" Her mother doesn't look like herself, with her face contorted in rage. His grip on Anni hardens and she whines in pain. "Let go of her!" The ground trembles below them and every gaze turns to her mother. "She is just a child, she is scared. Let her go." This time, her tone is softer.

Mercifully, he lets go of her. Anni wastes no time in running to her mother. Her father doesn't move and Anni fears he might be dead. They are cuffing him too, binding his ankles and wrists.

"Where are they taking him?" She asks fearfully. She doesn't understands what's happening, who are these people.

"To Coruscant." The man answers and her mother glares at him. "To face justice for his crimes. Don't worry, your mother and you are coming too."

"You are going to hear terrible things." Her mother warns once they board the ship. Her arms are wrapped around one another in a tight embrace, they've cuffed her hands in front of her body. The image of her father being dragged away won't leave her any soon and she fears that any of the men around them will try to take her mother too. "About your father and me." A shuddery breath escapes her lips, Anni stares at her and her mother looks like a shell of herself. "You must know, he is not the man they'll speak of. Your father is your father." Her hands suddenly cradle her face and Anni can only search for comfort in her mother's eyes. "Your father loves you more than anything. You know that?"

"I do, I love him too." She answers. Someone snorts by their side and Anni presses herself closer to her mother. She doesn't like strangers, much less these men who came and took them away from their home and hurt her father and her mother-

She can't breathe. Her breath hitches and she begins to sob in her mother's tunic. "I want to go home," she says weakly. It's futile and she knows it. Her mother caresses her hair. This is all her fault.

"Me too," she responds. "Me too." Her hug becomes almost too tight, but it just what she needs. Maybe this is all a nightmare and she'll soon wake up, in her parents bed, tucked beneath her father's chin.

They let her see him hours later, only her. She's escorted to the other side of the ship, which is cold and sterile. Her father is bound to a chair behind a glass. His eyes are fuming with an anger that dissolves as soon as he spots her. She can't run to him as she did with her mother, but she presses herself against the glass and the guards have to pull her away from it

"Dad," she speaks. Her voice is small and raw from the crying. He was always able to make her feel better after nightmares and such, she can ony hope he'll solve this situation.

"Anni. Are you hurt?" He asks darkly and she shakes her head.

"Why did they take us?" She sobs. "I want to home. I don't like this place."

"I know, I know… We'll go back before you know it." He tries to offer her a smile. "We are going with them now, to end some unfinished business. When that's over, we'll go back home."

Her father has always kept his promises. "Do you promise?"

He nods reassuringly. "I do." The guards warn that they must head back to the cells, where her mother is being held. "I love you more than anything. If I had to do everything I did again, for you and your mother, I'd do it." His smile is shaky. "Remember that, will you?"

"I will." With that, the guards take her away. Unbeknownst to her, that's the last time she'll ever see him.

* * *

It's a lie. Everything they say is a lie. They explain her parents are criminals, how they've been looking for them for years in order to make them pay for their crimes. Anni hears it as if she were under water. Lies, lies. She cannot believe it. Her parents are good people, they love her and they love each other! These things they are being accused of…treason, genocide. Words she can barely understand and can't relate to the people who have taught her how to climb and swim.

Her mother is no traitor, she is the best woman in the whole galaxy. Her father is kind and good, he lets her stay up late and plays with her whenever she wants to. They must have had a thousand matches of sabacc and other card games.

Her father is kind and good and he gets executed for his crimes against the galaxy. The caretakers she's given to believe it's important for her to see it (to learn what will happen should she wish to take upon his legacy). They hold her still by the shoulders and make her watch the father who raised and loved her get shot between the eyes. Except he doesn't. He fights like a wild beast and Anni is convinced that he isn't the man she knows. The man who strikes at his captors looks mad, she can see the desperation in his eyes (eyes she had only known to wear fondness and understanding), the fury as his cuffed fists collide with the chests and faces of the Republic's soldiers. She finds herself cheering for him. Win, win and come back for us.

He does not.

There isn't blood, but there is resistance. Her father takes down as many as he can with him. He can't fight forever, they surround him and shot him multiple times, even when he's stopped moving they keep shooting. Some in the crowd cheer, others look to the side, disgusted by the display yet doing nothing to stop it. Anni can't blink or cry she only stares, a helpless viewer to a ruthless butchery. She feels the exact moment he dies, cold washes over her like a wave, grief strikes at her heart. They had called him a monster, a mad-dog and a killer. But the only killers she can see are the ones in uniform, the ones who came and took her parents away.

Eventually a man steps in a gives a speech she doesn't hear. Her hands and shoulders are freed but she barely feels it. She turns her head to the side and throws up. She gets no sleep that night, nor the ones that follow.

She is allowed to see her mother a week later and she is barely a shadow of the woman who raised her. Just days before, they had been all together, laughing under the sun. Now her father was dead and her mother locked up. Their encounter is strictly monitored and Anni isn't allowed to get too close. Dark circles are under her mother's hazel eyes, which are red from crying. Anni can feel her grief as if it were her own.

They can only stare at one another, grief-stricken and mute. She wants to run to her arms, to be comforted and told that everything will be alright. Most of all, she wants her father back.

"Have you been good?" Her mother asks quietly. "Y-you are going to have a second chance, Anni. There are laws, a parent's sin cannot fall upon their children." Her lip shudders. "We will see each other, but we won't live together." Of course they wouldn't, her mother lived in a cage.

"I want to stay with you." She doesn't like the sound of her own voice, which cracks in front of these strangers who have separated her family and butchered her father. "Mom,please ." And it's beyond her power, but that doesn't keep her from begging.

"I'm sorry," her mother can only offers and then she makes the mistake of reaching for her. Before she can't get any closer, there's a blaster pointed at her face and a warning of backing off. "You just killed her father, the least you can do is let me hold her!" Her mother isn't subdued, there is a dangerous gleam in her eyes and the fury dances on her irises. She raises her hand and Anni, for a second, believes that she'll break the chains and take her away from this dreadful place. She does not.

Her mother is good and kind and she is shot a tranquilizer. She's asleep in seconds and the guards drag Anni out of the cell, ignoring her screams and pleas. She never forgets that, she promises that one day, it will be their screams that get ignored.

* * *

46 ABY

She hates Coruscant. Everyone knows who she is, who her father was and exactly where her mother is. She doesn't bother to pretend to be normal, because she is not. The Academy is even worse, for every child that attends to it is the son of someone important to the Republic. Anni was sent there in the hopes that she'd turn out to be a law-abiding citizen.

She no longer lives with the couple that had forced her to watch her father's execution, she was moved away from their home time after it. It was only meant to be temporary. For a while, she lived with a man named Finn and his wife, Rose. Eventually, she left them too. The man's guilt was tangible, Anni saw the regret in his eyes when he stared upon her. He would tell her tales of her mother when she was with the Resistance. He had once been friends with her mother, but that earned him little sympathy from her. They move her to a place and then to another, the faces blurring and no longer important.

At the Academy, they learn about the First Order. The teacher's eyes brush over her as he speaks of the ruthlessness of the masked creature that had been Kylo Ren. The other kids whisper behind her back and those who are kind to remain at a distance only do it because they are at risk of being pegged as First Order's sympathizers if they get too close. At fourteen, she wasn't sad and grieving anymore. She was mad, angry . She wasn't stupid enough to bring attention upon herself, she knew that she was one mistake away from earning herself a cell next to her mother's. She found other ways to amuse herself and honor her family.

She was called Anni Solo. That was the name her parents had given her, the one she used at their little planet. It held little weight at Coruscant, the hero that had been Han Solo wasn't often associated with her. Which leads her to ask others to address her at Anni Ren. She recalls her mother telling her, in one of their monthly visits, that her father had shed that name away to become Ben Solo once more. But they don't call him that in the History classes, so there's no need of them calling her that too. Ren makes people squirm, it makes them uncomfortable. Anni draws pleasure from it. She request the name change in her formal ID and they have no choice but to grant it. After all, she is Kylo Ren's daughter.

Her mother is no longer revered as the Last Jedi, though they do make vague mentions of her heroism, they put emphasis on her betrayal and affair with the Supreme Leader of the First Order. Anni refuses to show any emotions during these lessons, masking her face with indifference. She doesn't know enough of the real story, as her visits are monitored and there isn't much they can talk, to judge her mother.

She makes sure to excel on everything. She studies and works harder than anyone in the Academy, and they have no choice but to present her at every event as their best student, where she shakes hands with tight-faced people and introduces herself as Anni Ren. She smiles for every picture and then laughs bitterly as the Holo-Net proclaims that even the spawn of the devil can be reformed by the Republic.

48 ABY

At sixteen, she is studying to become a pilot for the Republic's Army. That's what she says, when in fact, her only intention is to learn how to pilot a ship to fly away from Coruscant. She still dreams of her green jungle, of her family's home and the rich fruit. She'll fly there and never return. Or she would if it weren't for her mother. Anni is hurt to see her, both dreading and wishing their visits. Confinement hasn't been kind to her and the prison might be stellar, but she's been locked in a box for eight years. In her worst days, Anni thinks of killing her so she could be free at last. Later, she is horrified of her own thoughts. It's the men who took her family away that should die, not her mother.

As fate is nothing but kind, one of the flying instructors at academy is none other than Poe Dameron. The man who had chased her in the jungle and directed the operation against her parents. She can't even feign a smile for him, like she has for every person she's met since arriving to the academy.

"Keep up, Solo ." He tells her when she becomes distracted and loses her rhythm. They make them run early in the mornings, every cadet at the school.

"It's Ren." She corrects him later, not impolitely, but with a clear edge to her voice. Silence reins amongst the other recruits. Dameron stops on his tracks, turning his head at her. Objectively, Anni can recognize there's something handsome about this man, but the mere sight of him is enough to make her nauseous. All she can think of is her father being shot.

"Your mother must be thrilled about that."

Fire burns in her belly, a familiar impulse of rising her hand and pushing him away with just a flick of her wrist kicks at her. She ignores it, offering an indifferent shrug. "I wouldn't know. I see her only once a month and we speak of other things." And because she can't keep herself, she adds. "My father would be thrilled, I believe. He was always proud of his name." The lie slips from her lips before she can stop it and she bites her tongue so nothing else will.

Poe Dameron meets her eyes. He doesn't fear her, but that doesn't mean he doesn't see her as a threat of sorts. "Unreasonably so, his name was given to him by Supreme Leader Snoke. Like one names a dog."

She digs her nails on her palms, cutting crescent moons. "A dog that ruled the galaxy."

"And lost it." They are all dismissed. It's not a win, but Anni takes her as such. Her father didn't lose the galaxy, he gave it up for her mother. That much, she knew.

"To be honest, I never thought you'd stand up to Dameron." It takes her a second to realize she's being spoken to, so casually the voice sounds. She has grown used to her own silence, to the people who only talk to her when it's strictly necessary.

"I wasn't standing up to him, it was merely a correction." Friendly he might seem, she trusts no one and has a façade to maintain. His eyes shine, as if he were aware of the game she's playing. He wears a uniform much like hers, which delates his status as a recruit. There's sharpness in those eyes too. Anni becomes wary.

"I know how it feels like, to stand at the top and then be treated like the scourge of the galaxy. By rebel scum of all things." Her eyes widen at him, who speaks so spitefully and openly. He notices. "My father's family was with the Empire, not at your range, but enough they faced hardship in here."

She wants to kick this stupid boy, whose name she is yet to learn. What does he know about hardship? Her mother is rotting in a cell, her father got killed and she's been on her own since she was eight. What does he know?

"What do you want?" She asks instead. There are many things he could want from her. She has everything good from her parents looks, not every stare she receives is one of hatred.

He raises his hands in a sign of peace. "I'm offering you friendship, which you seem to lack." Anni tries not to be offended by his words. "An ally, if you will."

"Alright."

This ally invites her for dinner at his home, which she goes to without any thought. Turns out, he is not the only one who openly despises the Republic. A dinner at his home turns in routine, she meets old men who were exiled during the Second Republic, young men who were shunned for having served the First Order and shameless opportunists who could benefit from chaos. There is talk of revenge and Anni sees her chance. She takes it.

* * *

50 ABY

When she's eighteen years old, she flies away from Coruscant.

She does many things, but first, she goes back to the only home she ever knew.

Her little planet is still hot and green. She remembers the clear and the jungle. Their house in the earth has been covered by dirt, the entrance is blocked and she cannot enter it. The ship, however, is still right there. Covered by vines and looking like an ancient piece of junk, the Falcon stands tiredly. She walks through the corridors feeling like a ghost. It was hard to believe she had once lived here. It was someone else's life.

Her name is still written under the table, her clothes are on the floor along with her toys. Time remains frozen here and Anni feels tempted to stay there, to pretend that her parents are at the jungle and will come home soon. She finds a stuffed bantha that had once belonged to her and holds it against her chest. She wanders around the rooms, lost. Her father's clothes are still there, she takes one cloak and lies in the bed that used to be her parents. If she closes her eyes, she can pretend they are by her side. She can feel his father's ghostly kiss on her forehead and her mother's fingers threading on her hair.

She sits at the cockpit, when she once sat on her father's knee as he taught her how to fly with the simulations. It feels wrong without her mother as co-pilot.

In the morning, she climbs the trees in the jungle and eats the fruit freshly plucked. For some reason, it no longer tastes sweet in her lips. The beasts no longer know her name, which isn't even hers to have. The jungle feels humid and unpleasant, unlike it had so many years ago.

When she returns, she leaves everything just like she found it. She folds the clothes and places the stuffed toy in her parents bed. The Falcon stays in the jungle, as she has no desire of soiling the memories by bringing it with her.

She does take one thing, her father's old helmet. For she is a Skywalker and if they want a masked villain, she'll do her best.

* * *

0 ABC (After the Battle of Coruscant)

When she's twenty years old she goes with the battalion to free her mother. Her generals and advisors want to argue that she is too important to risk herself in such a mission, but they know better than to voice their concerns. They are fools if they think they could stop her. Anni has never cared much for the power or the galaxy. They could all burn to ash if it meant she could have her life with her parents back. All she wants is to see her mother again. It haunts her, that she can barely remember the color of her eyes and her father's face has been covered by shadows for years. She remembers the warmth, the love… Everything else feels like a distant dream.

She is no longer a scared child.

She had the mask fitted for herself. She often feels like a girl playing with her father's clothes, but it gets the message across. They've taken Coruscant with her at the head. She has retrieved her mother's lightsaber and now wears it as her own. She'll give it back to her if she wants it, since it was hers to begin with. She sent for Dameron and those who had accompanied him to the mission to retrieve her parents from their piece of paradise. They're soon to be put to death, by her hands only.

When they break into the prison, Anni tears trough the guards as if they were made of paper. They fall like leaves during autumn. Her heart beats wildly against her chest when she cuts the locks of her mother's cell. The woman is pressed against the wall, the last two years having taken its toll on her, she looks terrible. Her eyes have taken a haunted look to them, an infinite sadness that Anni can only hope to cure.

When she looks up at Anni, she blinks confusedly. " Ben? " She whispers, as if there was a ghost before her eyes. She's been referring to her father as Kylo Ren for so long that it takes her a second to realize that wasn't his name. Anni breaths heavily inside the mask, her lightsaber cuts the restrains that have kept her prisoner for ages.

" Mom, " She unlatches the mask, taking it off. Her amber eyes shine in the darkness of the cell. "It's me."

"Oh, Anni." Her mother sobs and she can feel only her sadness and relief.

She makes sure to give her the best accommodations. Only the best for her mother, she warns everyone who listens, and they are smart and quick to obey their Empress. She has lots of work piled up, but she leaves it to her ally and her other subordinates, her mother is more important than anything else that could be in those documents.

"The men who took us from home are to be executed." She tells her, trying to mask bits of her excitement. She has the feeling her mother wouldn't appreciate it. "I'll make them pay for all they did to our family." She's nervous, this is the longest they've been together in twelve years. "Are…Are there any foods you'd like? Or anything you want at all?" Stars above, this is her mother, why can't she calm down?

"You've grown up." She says, answering none of her questions. "This is what you were doing the last two years?" She asks, looking around the former Jedi Temple, which has now become the palace, like it used to be during Palpatine's time.

Anni nods, eager to tell her of her conquest. "Yes, I was gathering allies on the Outer Rim and the Unknown regions… There were lots of people who wanted revenge, and they thought that Kylo Ren's daughter was a good figurehead for a revolution." Anni has no illusions about her place, only the years have turned her into a true leader, but at the beginning she was nothing but an image.

"Ben Solo's," her mother says.

"What?"

"Your father, he wasn't Kylo Ren. He was Ben Solo."

Details. Anni made a small gesture with her hands. "They are the same person, mom." She tried to smile at her. "By tomorrow, I'll have avenged him. There'll be little left of those who once harmed our family, now that their beloved Republic it's gone."

"You've taken the Republic?" Her mother's eyes widened. Anni missed the fear in them.

"Burned it to ashes." Impulsively, she hugged her. Her mother was thinner than she remembered, nothing that couldn't be solved, but her embrace remained warm. "I'm sorry, I've missed you so much." She smiled awkwardly, feeling more like a child than an empress. "Now that we are together, everything will be the same as it was before."

"Do you think so?" Her mother asked warily.

"Of course," she assured. "We can rule together." It felt like what her father might have wanted. "You'll have a place in my council." She couldn't keep herself from adding. "All of this," she gestured at the ship, "I did it so we could be a family again. I did it for you and dad." She didn't keep her excitement hidden this time.

"Many will oppose you," her mother, ever concerned for her, said. "The Resistance will rise from the ashes of the Republic, just like it did with the First Order."

Anni gave her a sharp smile and her eyes acquired a yellowish tone for a second. "Let them try." She told her. "I'll burn them too." She didn't fear them. The men who had killed her father were nothing but dirt under her boots. "You should rest, mom." She'd have to send a med-droid to check on her, she wouldn't want to risk her health. "We have a long day ahead."

As she left the room, Anni failed to see the desperation in her mother's eyes.


End file.
